Category Archives: Acting Study

Listen to our new podcast as we kick things off with an interview by Robert Patterson with Daniel Amenda, playwright, actor and former student at TPS. He discusses acting, his career, play writing and the tenacity and dedication it takes to work on theater.

The interview with JoBeth Williams is from Ronald Rand‘s Acting Teachers of America: A Vital Tradition. JoBeth Williams was a member of the Trinity Repertory Company and made her Broadway debut in A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking. She has starred in several televisions shows, including 24 and Guiding Light. Ms. Williams’s film work…

I’m writing this piece with no holds barred about the requirements, discipline and challenges of the full program at The Patterson Studio. There has been much said and written about the rigorous nature of my studio as well as the harsh tough exacting demeanor that I bear as a teacher. Certainly that is not to be denied. But it also demands…

A teacher once told me, “A teacher’s job is to make complex things simple.” Breaking down and simplifying the elements and tools of the craft of acting is what Meisner’s course does. The course is organized in two years. My class with Robert Patterson met twice a week for three hour sessions. I have taught…

by Daniel Amenda, Playwright & Actor. In the late nineteenth century Acting began to be seen in the course catalogs published by colleges. These courses were mainly nothing more than elocution courses, and that approach is the parent of the modern day acting classes offered at most colleges and conservatories. Prior to this period, Acting,…

Many actors both young and inexperienced, as well as more experienced view auditions with a sense of anxiety. When in fact it should always be viewed as a positive opportunity. While the dancer takes class, to hone their skills, the musician can practice, it is not quite the same for the actor/actress. Therefore, auditioning should be viewed as a time…

For over 40 years, I have been privileged to train actors in NYC at the Patterson Studio, and fortunate to be able to do so without compromising the disciplined foundational acting study process. Perhaps, the wisest (or luckiest) decision I have made is focus my career on working with people of incredible dedication, talent, and fortitude. Acting is…

Where are the Eugene O’Neill’s, Lillian Hellman’s, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Millers, or for that matter, the August Wilson’s of today? In fact, we have heard little from such playwrights as Sam Shepard, Marsha Norman, Beth Henley or Caryl Churchill in the last several years – all of whom might well have suffered from the lack…

You should know that you’re about to embark on an educational journey that will transform your life in ways you can’t even imagine. Is it a serious commitment in terms of time and money? You bet it is! Aren’t you worthy of such an investment? The Robert Patterson Studio is a place for serious actors…